I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sockets for telephone plugs and, more particularly, to a female socket for receiving one of multiple types of male telephone plugs.
II. Prior Art
Global competition is driving the need for portable data processing and telecommunications capabilities. Portable personal computers (PCs) are provided with greater and greater processing capabilities while getting smaller in size. As exemplified in the latest notebook and handheld PCs, physical space on PCs is a premium.
In addition to greater processing capabilities and smaller physical size, there is an increasing need for PCs to have communications capabilities, especially over the existing telecommunications networks. As a result, many present PCs have built-in adapters for interfacing with the telecommunications networks. Examples of telecommunications adapters are modems for interfacing with the standard analog telecommunications networks or plain old telephone service (POTS), and, for the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Basic Rate service, ISDN Basic Rate adapters. These adapters convert the computer data to be transmitted into the corresponding telecommunications network format and protocol and vice versa. Also, they provide connectivity to the network via connectors which, in the case of POTS and analog modems, conform to the RJ-11 standard and, in the case of Basic Rate ISDN, conform to the RJ-45 standard.
Presently, the type of telecommunications service available in areas around the world is not uniform. For example, in the United States, POTS is the available telecommunications service, while in Europe, ISDN Basic Rate is the generally available service. Also, the common carriers in the United States have announced plans to deploy ISDN Basic Rate in the future. Thus, it is sometimes desirable for PCs to be outfitted with more than one type of adapter, for instance, a modem for POTS and an ISDN Basic Rate adapter for ISDN. At the very least, the PC's telecommunications adapters should be easily replaceable.
But, even where a PC is outfitted with a modem for POTS and an ISDN adapter for ISDN, a connectivity problem exists as POTS connector sockets conforming to RJ-11 for receiving connector plugs conforming to RJ-11 are not able to receive ISDN Basic Rate connector plugs conforming to RJ-45 and vice versa. This is because the ISDN Basic Rate connector plug is wider than the POTS connector plug and has eight contact terminals rather than the two, four or six contact terminals of the POTS connector plug. As a result, unless the PC is outfitted with a connector socket which is dimensioned to receive both RJ-11 and RJ-45 connector plugs, the PC connector socket will have to be replaced. This manual process can be burdensome, time-consuming and costly. In the alternative, two connector sockets, one POTS RJ-11 and one ISDN Basic Rate RJ-45, can be supplied on the computer. This is also costly and somewhat wasteful as two connector sockets are provided although only one will be used at any given time in most cases. Additionally, the extra connector socket consumes valuable space on the PC chassis.
Jaag, U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,441, shows a connector socket for use in a telecommunications system which can receive either a POTS connector plug or an ISDN Basic Rate connector plug. The Jaag connector socket has a plug-receiving chamber dimensioned so that it can receive the wider 8-contact ISDN Basic Rate connector plug. The connector socket has eight contact terminals on the bottom side of the chamber for providing connectivity with the ISDN Basic Rate connector plug. The Jaaq connector socket may also receive the narrower POTS connector plug by the provision of two plates, one plate for being wedged along either side of the POTS connector plug so that the plug will not move about laterally within the connector socket. The same contact terminals along the bottom side of the chamber are used to connect with the POTS connector plug. The problem is that the removable plates, because of their small size, are not easy to handle and are quite easily lost or misplaced.